Tag: GreatLakesNews

{A live music band and groups of artistes from Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) yesterday coloured the commissioning of the graduands of the officer cadet course held at the State House in Dar es Salaam.}

The celebration, beamed live on local radio and television stations was graced by the Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces, President John Magufuli. ‘Wananchi’ turned up early and braved the long and tedious queues as they went through security checks to get into the venue and occupy the terraces.

There was tight security as screening took place on the relatives of the envisaged commissioned officers and other guests as they entered the entrance gate. Officers from TPDF who were seated in a special tent were shining in their military attire as they waited for the head of state to officiate at the function. Journalists from different media were not given any seat.

They later opted to remain standing for almost three hours. TPDF who organised the function, had also brought in some military groups of dancers who sang much to the delight of members of the public who turned up for the function, that also entertained the chief guest, Mr Magufuli.

The president is usually the last person to enter the venue and the first to leave it, perhaps for security reasons. This means whoever wanted to leave could not. At exactly 10.25 a.m, Mr Magufuli arrived at the grounds set for the commissioning of the military officers, just outside the gates of State House.

Dressed in a blue suit, the Magogoni office bearer was seen in a jovial mood as he walked straight to the podium. He could be seen singing along as the national anthem was played by a special guard of honour mounted by members of the TPDF and the graduands of the officer cadet course.

Immediately after the National Anthem, the president inspected the guard of honour and later granted awards to the best five trainees before granting commission to 165 graduands of the officer cadet course.

The officers who had an opportunity to shake a hand with the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces were the overall best trainee Mr Said Idd who is a graduate of Bachelor of Business Administration.

Others and their qualifications in brackets were Mr Shahani Majid (Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering); Mr Hassan Mbaga (Bachelor of Science in Land Management and Evaluation; Mr Lucas Ntamakusau (a Kenyan) (Bachelor of Purchasing and Supply Management) and the only woman, Mariam Kayanda (Bachelor of Mass Communication).

Later, the guests received colourful entertainment from various military groups and the famous Mwenge Band as it started to spot with rain shortly before the function ended. The function was also attended by Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.

Source:Daily News

{Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said on Saturday it was investigating a video that appears to show Congolese troops shooting dead a group of apparent militia members armed with slingshots and wooden batons.}

The seven-minute video, which was shared widely on social media and seen by Reuters, shows men in Congolese army uniforms saying they are participating in an operation against the Kamwina Nsapu militia.

It was not possible to confirm the video’s authenticity independently or when it was recorded.

Congolese forces have been battling an uprising by the militia in central Congo’s Kasai provinces, which was triggered when they killed its leader Kamwina Nsapu in August.

The United Nations said this week it had reports the army had killed at least 101 people in clashes in the region between Feb. 9 and Feb. 13, including 39 women.

Congolese human rights minister Marie-Ange Mushobekwa said a probe had been launched into the video.

“Since we received the video, the ministries of human rights, interior, justice and defence have been working on it … to try to authenticate these images,” she told Reuters.

“As soon as possible, we will be able to say what it’s all about,” she added.

The footage is filmed from slightly behind the roughly dozen men wearing Congolese military uniforms and shows them advancing on foot towards a group of men and women on a dirt road.

They open fire for 45 seconds then advance closer to inspect the more than 10 dead and wounded, including at least two women.

“This one here isn’t dead,” one of men says in the western Congolese Lingala language, referring to a bloodied young man lying in the grass. Another uniformed man then shoots him in the head.

Several of the men who have been shot have slingshots and wooden batons. None appears to have been carrying a gun.

The army’s spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Militia violence in Congo, a tinder box of conflicts over land, ethnicity and minerals, has been worsened by President Joseph Kabila’s failure to step down when his mandate expired in December, and analysts say it risks spinning out of control.

A UN spokeswoman said this week that the apparently high death toll over the last two weeks suggested “excessive and disproportionate use of force by the soldiers”.

Source:Enca

{The government of Burundi through its ministry of internal affairs and patriotic training is ready to welcome Burundians who are exiled as refugees.}

This was announced by Pascal Barandagiye, the minister of home affairs and patriotic education.

The minister was meeting a group of 34,705 Burundian refugees housed at Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp. Barandagiye was accompanied by the Burundian ambassador to Uganda Jean Bosco Barege and other government officials from both Burundi and Uganda.

Barandagiye assured Burundians in exile that the situation in Burundi is stable; explaining that what happened in 2015 is over adding that all Burundians at home are waiting to build a peaceful and stable nation. Barandagiye and his team had gone to talk them about repatriation. He asked the officials of UNCHR and the Ugandan government to work together with Burundi to take back all those who are ready to go.

He however told them that the government of Burundi would not force anyone to back home but warned those who are sceptical and reluctant to repatriate that their status as refugees is temporary.

“The purpose of our coming here was to tell you that the government of Burundi is ready to welcome you. We are here telling them to voluntarily go back home for those who feel that they are ready to go. Those who are not ready can still be sensitized till they feel they are ready to go” he said.

Douglas Asiimwe, the officer in charge of refugee protection in the Prime Minister’s office said Uganda welcomes Burundi’s idea to repatriate its nationals as a durable solution to refugee problems. He said once they are ready and feel reasons that led to their going into exile ceased to exist, that Uganda and UNHCR are ready to support the move.

He said they are going to continue to engage with them and build confidence in them to return home. Police tightens minister’s security Police heavily deployed and guarded Barandagiye to protect him from being attacked by angry refugees.

The refugees were first angered by journalists’ cameras that started filming and photographing them shortly after the meeting had commenced. They were again angered by Barandagiye’s order that they should only ask questions not giving lamentations and speeches during a question and answer session.

“Don’t photograph us, we are going away if they continue taking our pictures” some shouted. The situation was calmed by Asiimwe who cautioned refugees of their indiscipline and convinced them that the journalists were not from Burundi but from Ugandan and that their presence was for their well-being and would help them get more help from international organizations.

“This is Uganda; you are under our protection and care. As a person in charge of refugees I want to see order here, when you are in Uganda you are under Ugandan laws; in Uganda we are not dis-organized. If you have come to disrupt this meeting you risk being arrested, media has a role of your well-being” Asiimwe warned.

Refugees vow not to return home Some refugees expressed hesitation to return home. They said some of the things that pushed them out of their country including political discrimination still exist. They also fear persecution, harassment, physical and mental violence, ethnicity discrimination. “We can’t go there since what pushed us to flee is still there, the President is still there in his illegal term, they should have come to tell us that the President Nkurunziza has resigned and the killing of soldiers and policemen has stopped, there we can go back” one of the refugees said.

“There is no security in Burundi; it is better we live here in the camp rather than going back” another said. A few of them especially those who came six years back indicated their readiness to return home. They also fear targeted albino killings in Burundi, a challenge they said has been there since 2010. In a four-page document they handed over to the delegation, the refugees added that children who were born in exile since 1965, 1972, 1988 and 1993 were forced to return to Burundi and are homeless because their properties were destroyed and their land was taken by leaders and security officers.

Through UNHCR and the Uganda government, the refugees requested humanitarian organizations that are in charge of defending the international rights of refugees to seriously consider their outcry. They requested the government of Uganda to keep hosting them. They were concerned about Burundi’s withdrawal from the ICC and attributed this to the increasing killings.

Source:The New Vision

{The Republic of Congo’s former spy chief is dead.

Colonel Marcel Ntsourou died on Friday morning at a military hospital in the capital Brazzaville.}

Africanews spoke to one of his lawyers, Yvon Eric Ibouanga, who confirmed his death.

“I was in court and my phone rang. It was his wife who was calling from France and she informed me that that her husband had collapsed in his cell and taken to the military hospital. I was forced to leave the court and wend to the military hospital where I saw that indeed the Colonel Marcel had died and his body was taken to the morgue at the university Hospital in Brazaville.”

A former ally to president Denis Sassou Nguesso, until they fell out in 2012, the colonel was serving a life sentence with forced labour after being sentenced in September 2014.

He had been arrested in December 2013, following violent clashes between his militia men and the Congolese army in the center of Brazzaville.

The criminal court found him guilty of “rebellion, illegal possession of weapons of war and ammunition, murder, intentional assault and conspiracy.”

Colonel Ntsourou fell into disgrace after he was blamed for an explosion at an arms depot at Mpila,a residential area in Brazzaville, which caused nearly 300 deaths on 4 March 2012.

An investigation has been launched to unearth the cause of his death.

Source:Africa News

The Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) is interrogating two officials of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) in connection with the alleged smuggling of ephedrine Precursor Chemicals.

In similar vein, four people were yesterday arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court charged with illegal possession of drugs.

DCEA, whose powers gained renewed momentum a week ago after President John Magufuli appointed its Commissioner General, Mr Rogers Sianga, insisted that it has launched a man hunt for two more officials who connived in the smuggling of the drug haul.

DCEA Commissioner of Operations, Mr Mihayo Msikhela, said at a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that after Dr Magufuli’s appointment of the Commissioner General and two other commissioners of Operations and Intelligence respectively, the authority launched a countrywide operation to crack the whip on all criminals involved in narcotic drugs trade, as directed by the head of state.

He, however, fell short of disclosing the names of the TRA officials for fear of jeopardising the on- g o i n g investigation. “The crackdown on the narcotic drug dealers, which kicked off on February 13, has yielded positive results in many regions as we have managed to arrest many suspects,’’ said Mr Msikhela. According to the DCEA Commissioner of Operations, Simiyu Region had the widest farms of marijuana that were destroyed.

“In Simiyu Region we destroyed 40 hectares followed by Tarime/ Rorya which had 36 hectares of marijuana,’’ he insisted. In the operation which was done in collaboration with all regional police commanders (RPCs), Mr Msikhela said that the law enforcers seized heroin, marijuana and khat.

According to him, in the antidrugs crusade, no stone shall be left unturned regardless of the status and position of suspects. He asked all Tanzanians to volunteer information that shall result in the arrest of drug dealers and consumers.

In another development, four people appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam charged with unlawful possession of narcotic drugs. They are Shaban Ndokoi (28), an entertainer; Simon Esabius, alias Nasiss (36), who is a businessman; Justine Luseba (39), a resident of Kunduchi Mtongani and Hemed Rashid (45), who is a fisherman at Ferry in Kigamboni District. Two of the accused persons, Ndokoi and Esabius, pleaded guilty to the charges before Principal Resident Magistrate Huruma Shaidi.

The magistrate ordered them to remain in remand until February 20 when the prosecution will present a memorandum of facts to the cases. In another court chamber presided over by Principal Resident Magistrate Thomas Simba, the remaining two accused persons, Luseba and Rashid, denied the charges against them. They were remanded after failing to meet bail conditions. The magistrate had ordered each of the accused to secure two reliable sureties. Every surety, according to the magistrate, was to sign a bond of 10m/- .

The two cases will be mentioned on March 2, as investigations, the prosecution said, had not been completed. State Attorney Estazia Wilson, for the prosecution, told the court that on February 2, this year, at Mwananyamala A within Kinondoni District, Ndokoi was found in unlawful possession of Heroin Hydrochloride weighing 1.21 grams.

It is alleged that on the same day at Kunduchi Mtongani area in Kinondoni District in the city, Luseba was found in unlawful possession of Heroin Hydrochloride weighing 0.89 grams.

The prosecution told the court further that on the same day at Ferry Tandavamba area in Kigamboni District in Dar es Salaam, Rashid was found illegally possessing 0.21 grams of Heroin hydrochloride.

In addition, the prosecution alleged that on February 5, this year, at Kawe Makazi Mapya area in Kinondoni District, Esabius was found in unlawful possession of cannabis sativa (bhang) weighing 16.69 grams.

Source:Daily News

{Kenya’s economy is “in turbulence”, opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.}

The ODM leader said Kenya’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the world, with 17 per cent of the youth, who are the majority population, lacking jobs.

“Our country is hurting,” he told inventors in Kisumu in a statement read by Governor Jack Ranguma. “Despite the glossy projections we have chosen to believe, the reality is that our economy is in turbulence.”

To arrest runaway joblessness, Mr Odinga said, the government should get its priorities right and focus on them.

{{CORRUPTION}}

“First, let us talk openly and act candidly against corruption,” he said.

“Corruption is taking away at least 250,000 jobs every year from our country. With a reputation like the one we gained last month as the third most corrupt country in the world, it takes a really brave investor to try Kenya.”

He went on: “Our unemployment rate is among the highest in the world. It stands at three times that of Uganda and Tanzania.

“The World Bank says one in every five Kenyan youths of working age has no job compared to Uganda and Tanzania, where about one in every 20 young people is jobless.”

He said youth unemployment, if not addressed, would be a disaster for Kenya and urged the business community to help deal with it.

{{AGRICULTURE}}

“A nation that has no jobs for its youth is a nation working against itself. The business community can play a vital role in reversing this trend,” said Mr Odinga.

Mr Odinga said Kenya is a signatory to the Maputo Declaration that stipulates that at least 10 per cent of the national Budget must go to agriculture but we have never attained even five per cent.

If well funded, farming can create millions of jobs and help fight hunger, he said.

“We must pursue radical reforms in the agricultural sector and address the issue of standards,” he said.

Mr Ranguma read the speech as he closed a three-day trade investment forum by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kisumu on Thursday.

KISUMU

The governor used the opportunity to woo local and foreign investors to Kisumu, saying the county government had created an enabling environment for business.

“A recent Word Bank survey ranked Kisumu as the best county in Kenya and number 40 in the world in terms of ease of doing business,” he said.

“It means that your investment in Kisumu is never in vain.”

He hailed Mr Odinga for helping inculcate an attitude change that embraces investment in the region.

“You no longer hear the narrative of stone throwing in this region and residents have embraced peace because they are aware that businesses can only thrive in a peaceful environment,” he added.

Source:Daily Nation

{Four people suspected to be members of the M23 combatants have been arrested in Kisoro District on their way to the Democratic Republic of Congo.}

They are; Captain Karuhije Habiyaremye, 30, Lieutenant Abdu Amani, 28, Sergeant Isaac Habimfura,24, and Corporal Innocent Amani, 21. They are all residents of Masisi territory, North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kisoro District Police Commander Charles Okoto said the rebels were arrested at Kanombe cell, Muramba Sub County, Kisoro District on Thursday.

He added that they were intercepted by locals in the area while trying to cross to Democratic republic of Congo through secret path.

Hajji Shafique Ssekandi, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner said the suspects now detained at Kisoro Police Station, are part of the 750 ex-combatants who recently escaped from Bihanga Military Training School in Ibanda District.

Mr Ssekandi also urged locals to remain vigilant and alert security for intervention in case they become suspicious or fail to recognize any person in the area.

This is not the first time M23 rebels are arrested in Kisoro trying to cross to Democratic republic of Congo. On January 23, five more M23 rebels were intercepted at Kanaba along Kabale-Kisoro road. They were relocated to Bihanga Military Training School.

The M23 Movement also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army was a rebel military group based in Eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Ex-combatants sought refuge in Uganda after a ceasefire agreement that ended their activities and control in Goma.

Some started dwelling in Kisoro District as urban refugees while others were taken to Bihanga Military Training School in Ibanda district for demobilization. In December 2013, a total of 1,374 ex-M23 combatants were transferred from Kavera in Kasese district to Bihanga.

During the recent meeting with team, military attaches from the United States of America, India, China, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and the ex-combatants at Bihanga Military Training School, it was revealed that the number of ex-combatants dwindles by the day and their destination is yet to be known.

During the meeting it was also revealed that, a total of 750 former combatants are missing from the Military Training School. Rebel Commander, Sultan Makenga and Lt Colonel Vianney Kazarama, the spokesperson of the M23 Military wing, escaped from the camp.

Currently, the UPDF can only account for about three hundred of them.

Source:Daily Monitor

{Police in Kayunga District are investigating circumstances under which 65 pupils of Kangulumira Church of Uganda Primary School in Kangulumira sub-county are said to have eaten food laced with poison.}

Four people have so far been arrested after the pupils were rushed Kangulimira Health Centre IV and Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in critical condition.

The poisoned pupils, mainly in Primary six and seven were admitted after developing severe diarrhoea, stomach-ache and vomiting.

The head teacher of the school, Mr Livingstone Kalinge declined to talk about the incident, however, teachers found at the health centre said one of the school neighbours identified as Grace Nabitegero on Wednesday came with beans soup from her home and mixed it in the beans the pupils were being served for supper.

“She claimed that the soup was tastier and mixed it with the pupils’ beans sauce, which they served to pupils,” one teacher narrated.

However, after having the meal, the pupils developed diarrhoea, stomach-ache and started vomiting.

The pupils who had been served before the sauce was mixed with the neighbour’s soup were not affected, according to teachers.

Kayunga District CID boss, Mr Maliserino Mulema said four people had been arrested to help in their investigations. The suspects are the school cook Mr Christopher Kabaya, Nabitegero, Michael Kazungu and Godfrey Kalema, both employed as cooks at Uganda Martyrs SS, a neighbouring school have been arrested to help.

Source:Daily Monitor